Safety

Collisions between vehicles at urban and rural intersections account for nearly a third of all reported crashes in the United States. This has led to considerable interest at the federal level in developing an intelligent, low-cost system that can detect and prevent potential collisions in realtime. We propose the development of a system that uses video cameras to continuously gather traffic data at intersections (e.g., vehicle speeds, positions, trajectories, accelerations/decelerations, vehicle sizes, signal status etc.) which might eventually be used for collision prediction. This paper describes some of the challenges that face such a system as well as some of the possible solutions that are currently under investigation.

University of Minnesota

Presented at the ITS America Annual Conference and Exposition, May 19-22, 2003 Minneapolis, Minnesota

This paper examines possible roles that TMCs can play in the event of homeland security threats, and raises other questions that should be considered in the design and operations of existing and future TMCs. Procedures, policies, and communication protocols that should be in place between the TMC and the EOC during potential terrorist attacks are discussed. Information that should be monitored, and how that information is verified, shared, and disseminated is also discussed. Finally, the paper recommends improvements to the existing protocols to maximize communication and coordination between the EOC and TMCs during homeland security events.

Transportation Solutions, Inc. (TSI)

Center for Urban Transportation Research (CUTR)

Presented at the ITS America Annual Conference and Exposition, May 19-22, 2003 Minneapolis, Minnesota

With the United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) leading the way in declaring
“reduced traffic fatalities” as its #1 goal, there were plenty of vehicle safety demonstrations at
the 2008 World Congress on Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) in New York City. Among
the many demonstrations was Raytheon’s video analytics-enabled Cooperative Pedestrian
Warning System (CPWS). While the positive potential for these types of safety application is
apparent, liability concerns have many in the industry wondering how to bridge the gap
between “neat demonstrations” and real world deployments certified for Safety of Life.
This paper reveals how Raytheon, in cooperation with DSRC device certification authority
OmniAir, will develop a Vehicular Safety Application Certification Framework (VSACF) in
2009, based on methods proven in certifying the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS)
for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for sole-source Safety of Life air navigation.

Raytheon Co.

Paper submitted for publication and presentation at the ITS America’s 2009 Annual Meeting and Exposition

In March 2004, the Oregon Department of Transportation installed and evaluated a dynamic
curve warning system deployed in both directions of Interstate 5 near Myrtle Creek, Oregon. For
the evaluation, two measures of effectiveness were selected: 1) the change in mean speed for
passenger cars and commercial vehicles, and 2) the change in the speed distribution for
passenger cars and trucks. The evaluation found that the Myrtle Creek Advanced Curve Warning
System was effective at reducing mean speeds by approximately 2-3 mph. In addition, speed
distributions showed a lower proportion of higher speed vehicles. The purpose of this paper is to
present the results of a follow up evaluation of the system. This paper discusses the crash
reduction observed using three years of crash data before and after installation. Speed conditions
were also reexamined at Myrtle Creek site to evaluate the long term effectiveness of the dynamic
curve warning system in maintaining the speed reductions initially observed.

Portland State University

Presented at the 15th World Congress on Intelligent Transport Systems, November 16-20, 2008, New York, New York

A driver fatigue detection system has been developed under test-driving conditions that include 24 hours of driving on a test track at Nihon University and 12 hours of driving on a national highway in Japan. The level of driver fatigue is shown as a Driver Fatigue Index (DFI). After the detection system was installed in the heavy trucks used in this study, various experiments aimed at establishing practical usage parameters for the system were conducted under actual operating conditions. Truck positioning data was verified by GPS. Three-dimensional acceleration levels, the vehicle’s operating speed, the driver’s heart rate, body surface temperature, and DFI were monitored, with the collected data transmitted automatically to the researchers by a mobile packet transmission system. The results of the study were displayed on a web page used to manage driver fatigue levels for road safety purposes.

Nihon University

Presented at the ITS America Annual Conference and Exposition, November 16-20, 2008, New York, New York